Overhead conductor cables are commonly suspended from a wire typically made of high strength alloys. The wire is supported on poles or towers with the conductor cable spacers arranged at spaced intervals along the wire to suspend one or more conductor cables. The wires are used in part to install cables, such as conductor or transmission and distribution cables commonly used for communication or electrical transmission and distribution. Installation of the cables is a tedious and expensive process, since it conventionally requires the use of numerous different installation devices for installation, and then an exchanging of the installation devices for permanent retention devices.
For example, a utility worker installing a cable may use a roll-by block, messenger trolley and tag line. The messenger trolley may roll along a wire at the front of an installation operation, normally being towed by a pulling rope or other towing device. The messenger trolley is connected to the roll-by block with the tag line which has a predetermined distance, usually 30 feet. Any additional number of roll-by blocks may be used in series, all connected with additional tag lines. The cable being installed is also connected to the messenger trolley and placed within the roll-by block. As the messenger trolley is pulled with the pulling rope along the wire, the cable, tag line and all of the roll-by blocks are also pulled along the wire, with each of the roll-by blocks being spaced apart from one another based on the length of the tag line.
Once the cable is in the desired position and is strung along the length of the wire, a utility worker must remove the roll-by block, the tag line and the messenger trolley and replace these devices with other devices that can be used to permanently hold the cable in place. Permanent holding of the cable may be for an indefinite period of time or any period of time, such as for the months or years the cable may be in place. Normally, this process of changing the roll-by block and other installation devices for permanent devices includes tying off or connecting the end of the cable that was attached to the messenger trolley to a utility pole or a point on the utility pole. Then, a utility worker must go to each of the roll-by blocks and install a spacer prior to removing the roll-by blocks. The spacer is suspended from the wire and holds the cables in a predetermined arrangement. Each of the roll-by blocks must be removed and replaced with a spacer, which can be a lengthy and expensive process, due to the time it takes a utility worker to go back to each of the roll-by blocks.
The use of these many installation and permanent retention components comes at a high cost to utility companies. These costs are from both the use of numerous pieces of installation equipment coupled with the expense in installation hours. The time it takes to install the cables adds significant costs to the operational budgets of the utility companies, which is passed along to the consumer in the form of higher utility bills.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.